The Voyage continues
by Bod Owens
Summary: This story starts after the events that took place in the episode "The Rascals" from Star Trek: the Next Generations, in a different timeline, one where Captain Picard was not able to return to his former self and stayed as a kid.
1. Prologue

_This story starts after the events that took place in the episode "The Rascals" from Star Trek: the Next Generations, in a different timeline, one where Captain Picard was not able to return to his former self and stayed a kid._

_I took some liberties in this fiction, Picard turned into an eight years old kid instead of twelve. _

_This is my first time writing a fanfiction and is also the first time writing a story in English (as it is not my first language). _

_Any tips, suggestions are appreciated._

_ I don't own the copy rights of the names and series in this material, if you are the copyright owner and want this material removed, please contact me._

Prologue

As my thoughts traveled in the deep (well not that deep) space that is my chaotic consciousness, I forgot momentarily about my current duty. I was supposed to be commanding a science crew that was assembled by Starfleet to explore a new archeological site discovered in delta 12, and I must admit that at first it seemed to be indeed a good job, since I could enjoy all the trills and mysteries that a small patch of land could uncover, as well as not to worry about the hole process of excavating and getting dirt all over me. This mission also gave me time enough for me to pursue other of my hobby, literature.

The problem that I was soon faced with was that Literature was by far more interesting than archeology, since the first, depending on the author, tends to stays interesting throughout the whole experience and the last is only exciting in the very end, when something that is not dirt surfaces from the digging site; all the other processes to reach that result are dull and uninteresting.

I guess that every archeologist must already have knowledge of that fact, but for me, a captain used to some rather eventful missions, this characteristic was a most unpleasant one. At least I knew in what I was getting into. I already, from a past experiences, knew that when a hobby turns into a job it annoyingly tens to become dull and loose the thrill. And that was exactly how I was feeling now. All I wanted was to go back to my former command post…

I have been enlisted in Starfleet for more than 30 years and that was my life, I focused all of my time for my carrier and as a result I was a respected captain and was very well regarded at all the ranks of the Starfleet . I was completely happy with my life, of course I still missed that feeling of having a family, but my job was always my priority, and I did not and still don't regret this decision. My family was my crew and I couldn't ask for more. We went through a great number of dangerous situations and we always found a solution, almost always crossing the line from crazy to suicidal but we always survived.

The event that happened six months ago is the reason that I am here now, It made my life and my career change in such a drastic way that even all the experience that I had gained from all the situations that I faced couldn't have prepared me for what had come to pass.


	2. Chapter 1

_Just some information before you start reading:_

_I will use through my story the centimeters and meter scale because it is the one that I am most familiar with, but I will post in __Parentheses__ the conversion to feet of all the measurements that appears in the story. _

Chapter 1

Everything that happened in that dreadful event is still in my mind. I was returning from a visit to the Planet Marlonia with other 3 crew members when a space anomaly happened. My shuttlecraft was caught in a molecular reversion field that started to alter the composition of the shuttlecraft haul. We were lucky that we were already in transport range from the Enterprise, but while the emergency transport was successful in bringing us to safety, something had happened to us that changed the lives of the four of us from that time forward.

We were transformed into kids; our actual age was calculated by the doctor to be no more than eight years old. Doctor Crusher diagnosis was that in our Rybo-viroxic-nucleic structure there were some of the key viroxic sequences missing (the sequences that we gain during our growth), and as a result we were turned in kids. She was not able to reverse our condition, but she said that we would grow to become adults again. That was really a shock; in a second I ceased to be the famous captain Picard to become no more than a small and thin 1,15 meter (3'8'') boy. After a week of studies onboard the starship the result remained the same: that our condition was irreversible in any other means other than natural growth.

What was curious was that I could still think as my former self, I didn't have a child's mind, nonetheless my body was still the same as an eight years old kid, and as counselor Troy expressed herself, it would be very difficult for the crew (not my senior officers, since they were with me for six years now and respected me for what I was) to respect and be commanded by a small boy.

After I was relived from duty, I spent 3 weeks on earth in a hospital for further analysis of my condition, and the diagnostic that doctor Crusher had given me was confirmed. I was happy at first, who wouldn't like to have a second chance in life? In a certain point of view I was the luckiest person on earth (well, me and the other 3 crewmembers).

But difficulties started to emerge once I tried to go back to a relatively normal life again, and some of the situation that I found myself into made me realize how difficult would be to be back again in society or in command. Everything that I have trained for in the academy and as an officer had not prepared me enough to what was coming…

The first day outside the hospital was already troublesome; it all began at the morning, when I decide to take a cab to my old apartment. Since there were a lot of them near the entrance, I just entered in the first one, and said to the cab driver:

-12 street number 367 please.

He lowered the window between the first and the second row of seats, looked at me and said: little boy, where is your mom and dad?

(I need to explain something beforehand in case you are not familiar with the ID system of earth, every citizen has one small card that when pressed a button, shows over it an holographic projection of its holder face, with his rank (if you are from the Starfleet), age (biological age, so my age would be 8 instead of 45), social number, civil status, filiations, criminal status, and really, a lot of other things.)

Oh god, it had already started, I thought to myself. I took my newly made ID given to me by a Starfleet officer the day before, pressed the button, what showed was a digital representation of myself (a small boy with short brown hair) alongside with the information: Jean Luc Picard, Single, Starfleet Officer, Rank: Captain, Age 8, Social number 897865*****, status: Relived from Duty.

If the system were in any way Hackable, the cab driver would have thought that I was joking with him, but that was not the case, the system had been unhackable for a century now, and all the information shown in there were considered undeniable truth (for my luck). He looked at me, looked at my ID, by his expression I could deduce that he was having a hard time believing, and I sympathized with the man, since that would me my exact reaction if the places were reversed.

He took about ten minutes to recover, from what I can recall, and murmured something like (Starfleet must be joking) closed the window, and started the Skycar.

Just after I got down form that cab I noticed the first problem of my condition. I was a lot of centimeters smaller than the rest of the crowd, and I could not see a thing in front of me, only other people. The path from the street to the entrance of my apartment seemed a lot longer than the usual, and having to navigate between people legs only made the process more difficult. Eventually I arrived at my old apartment complex, went directly to the elevator, and was faced with another problem: I lived in the highest floor, and the button that usually was at the height of my eyes was now so high that I could not reach it. Lucky for me a young woman had just entered the elevator with me and, for what could be described as a very embarrassing moment, I had to ask her to push de button. She just looked at me with a smile and said "no problem".

The rest of the day I spent imagining what would I do with my life from now on. All I could think of was to find something useful to occupy me before I became depressed with boredom. I even considered, in my despair, entering in an elementary school.


	3. Chapter 2

In the next day, just after I woke up, I decided to use the morning to view the records from when I was a kid.

I told the computer from my home to turn on and asked it to search for the video records of my childhood, especially from the time that I was eight. After some time it found a film, made probably by my father, of our vacation in the south of France. When I opened the archive and started the film it looked like I was seeing myself from a mirror, the appearance that I had at that time was exactly the same from what I looked like now, and that was over 38 years ago.

I stayed the rest of the morning viewing all the other records that I had. And I don't know if my mind was staring to regress, or if it was simply nostalgia, but I got a strong feeling of homesick after seeing all that. Probably it's just nostalgia, I thought to myself as I closed the video archives.

I was browsing thought a news web site when suddenly I received an incoming video call notification from the computer. I was informed by the computer A.I. that it was Captain Piers (an old friend that graduated in the academy the same year that I did). I promptly answered the call.

When the image appeared I could see the instant change of reaction from my old friend. I could see the shock in his facial expression, and I could understand it. The situation was so unusual (quite unique actually) that no matter how one prepare for it, should still be surprising to see the thing in real life.

After the initial shock he started laughing quite histericaly and that really took me by surprise. I told him to calm down, and asked:

- What is so funny Piers? It's not like we never met before…

-Sorry Jean Luc, but the situation is already quite funny, and really, teddy-bear pijamas? I don't think that this is helping you a lot…

I took some time to understand what he had just said, then I noticed that what I was wearing was some pijamas that the people from the hospital had given to me. Since I did not have any clothes for my current size, I was given some pieces that I could use at the moment; they were one new uniform specially made for me, some pijamas from the hospital and Doctor Crusher sent me some clothes from Wesley (She didn't really told me from whom they belonged, but it was an easy guess).

-So tell me Charles, You called me just to make fun of my new sleeping wear?

-No, not really, it was just an opportunity that I could not pass on, You must admit that the situation is quite funny, and I could not have imagined you like this, with quite a lot of hair and all. But let's get down to business (I think he noticed my expression starting to get more and more annoyed), I was told by Starfleet headquarters that you are to be given a command again.

That information really took me by surprise, I felt a rush of happiness that was difficult to express. I really wanted to go back to Starfleet, and not having to wait some years to grow up again would be pretty nice, still something seemed odd, so I continued:

-But why? I was relived from command to avoid complications generated from my appearance and I was told that I would only be reintegrated in Starfleet after eight years, when hopefully I would be old enough.

-To tell you the truth old friend, yes there was some fear that this condition was going to get in the way and that your performance would suffer from it. The thing is that Starfleet is not in the position to lose a good captain just because of some accident if his mental abilities are still intact. That is why you were relived from duty in the first place. You made some tests in the hospital to check your mental capabilities, as I am sure you remember, and the result showed to Starfleet that you were still capable of performing your duty.

-Yes I do remember that, and I must admit that I am quite relieved to know that I will be back in action. I was already desperate by the prospect of doing nothing for a long period of time. But now that you uncover this fact I am curious, in what command Starfleet will put me into?

- You are supposed to command a small scientific crew to the planet delta 12 to explore a new archeological camp side recently uncovered. (He must have seen my face of disappointment and continued) Don't make that face Jean Luc, consider this as a test to really see if you can command a mission again, and if your results are good, you are to assume the post of Captain of the Enterprise as soon as your mission is over.

-Well I guess that it could be worse, but really I'm not that used to command a scientific crew.

- Well, I am sure you will do fine, old chap, the mission briefing will be at the headquarters tomorrow morning at nine hundred hours, I'll be there too to help you, should you need any.

The rest of the day I spent studying the situation in delta 12. I learned that there was evidence of an advanced civilization that disappeared in that planet and that archeological artifacts that were found recently sustain that hypothesis.

The meeting with my crew was an eventful one. The day after Piers called I went to the Starfleet headquarters by train, since I paid less to ride it (child discount) and I really was not in the mood to repeat that incident with the cab driver that occurred two days ago.

The thing is that I left my home in my Starfleet uniform. So I noticed a lot of people looking at me with doubtful expressions. When I arrived at the entrance of the Starfleet Command, as I went there by foot, was promptly stopped by the guards and told to go away. I had to show my ID to them, and after the usual reaction, I was told some apologies and to proceed.

It took me 30 minutes to find the room; the reason was that I lost my way in the corridors; mostly due to the difference in perspective from when I was an adult to my child self was so great that it disoriented me. After I finally found the door, I stopped in front of it, looked down, thought to myself "ohh well, here we go again, I hate this introductorily meetings…" and opened the door.

There was 60 people in the room, from what I could gather, further analysis shown me that they were from different age groups, from the late 20's to the early 50's. I think that they were expecting me for some time, since everyone was sitting in a chair but the sound of chatter had taken over the room. When I opened the door the chatter died gradually, one woman that were in the front row came at me and said: are you lost boy? I was fully dressed as a captain of Starfleet but still there was no recognition that I was one of them...

But I was thankful that from behind the woman came a voice that I promptly recognize as being of captain Piers. He said: Here gentlemen is your commanding officer for this mission.

There was a explosion of laughter after that, I heard someone asking the captain what was the joke, some of the women called me cute, While the laughter was still high I went to the computer of the room, said: computer display Captain Picard Information with current condition and past commands, as well as medical record from the past 3 months.

The information came instantly in the front of the room in a thing that the ancient people would call electronic white board. When the projection was shown the laughter started to die slowly. When all the room was in silence, and everyone else was with their jaws in their feet, I started my presentation.

-I would prefer to start the meeting with a mission briefing, but due to circumstances, I think that a proper introduction is needed. I am Captain Jean Luc Picard, my shuttlecraft was hit by a molecular reversing field and the emergency transport reacted with that field, the result made me regress to this state. This event occurred while I was in command of the starship Enterprise, I can assure you that I am a fully fledged captain with more than 30 years on duty, and that my appearance is, and I don't think I am exaggerating, very misleading.

A moment passed with no word. And I could see the bright face of Piers with a big and mocking smile, I went to the computer, commanded "show mission 88290 briefing" went back to the middle of the room, and continued:

-The mission at hand is one of the most important for the archeological department of Starfleet, and a lot is expected from the results of our work, that is why the officers here were handpicked by the Starfleet command, due to their expertise.

-The ship that we are going to use both as a transport and as a base is the USS Pathfinder, an Intrepid Class Starship, and the date of departure is set for Stardate 46295.8, in about five days. I hope we could work as a team and I look forward to be with you all. Is there a question?

I think no one was in a position to talk, so I dismissed everyone and waited the room to be emptied, so I could talk to my college.

-Why haven't you told the crew about me beforehand? I could be spared from all this reactions...

-And miss the opportunity, come on Jean Luc, said him said with a playful smile, you know me, I tried not to make this joke, but the impulse it was stronger than my will.

-Well, you could have spared me this embarrassment… I am still not used to this situation.

-But you better be, said he with a sudden serious face, a lot is expected from the result of this mission, and Starfleet really hopes that you can assume command of the Enterprise, since the last captain to take command there made so many mistakes that was relived from duty in only three weeks of command.

- Well yes, I see your point, but I dislike your methods of showing it nonetheless.

-Well, nothing you can do about it, old chap. He said to me with a smile and continued: I guess is time to get going, see you around Jean Luc.

And after that little chatter with Piers, I went back to my quarters and stayed the rest of the five days studying Delta 12 and what was know about the ancient civilization that once existed there.

Author's note:

To be quite frank I am having some difficulties in translating the thought of Captain Picard to the story. I find that his personality is quite difficult to put in paper specially to a writer that is not used to storytelling, so I will put this series on hold for a while, and pursuit other projects of mine until I am experienced enough to continue this fanfic.


End file.
